Ice-shaving machine



- (No Model.)

G B WEBB ICE SHAVING MACHINE.

No. 487,339. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

UNiTnn TATES ATENT Enron.

GEORGE B. WVEBB, OF KINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

lCE-SHAVING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,339, dated December 6, 1892. Application filed January 8, 1892. Serial No. 417,382. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. WEBB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kinston, in the county of Lenoir and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ice-Shaving Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in ice-shaving machines; and it is particularly designed as an improvement on that class of machines which forms the subjectmattcr of earlier patent granted to me on the 18th day of March, 1884, No. 295,467, in which a follower is made to rotate and move longitudinally within'an ice-cylinder toward stationary knives on afixed part of the machine. In my prior patent I have shown the shaft for rotating and feeding the follower as passing through said follower, which requires that the ice shall be broken into two or more parts and placed around the shaft within the cylinder; but in my present machine I obviate this objection and provide an improved construction by which a single block or massof ice may be advantageously used, or the ice may be in two or more .parts and properly fed to the knives at the same time said block or blocks of ice are rotated. I also provide novel forms of blades or cutters designed either to pare or shave the ice or to cut the same in small lumps ofi the block in the form of crushed ice, such blades being interchangeable at will, and either of said blades is adapted to remove the center or core of the block of ice both when the operating-shaft is in alignment with the center of the head supporting said knives or when the shaft is out of alignment with the axis of said head, which is due to wearing of the hearing or shaft and to the weight of the block of ice.

My invention has further for its object to simplify and cheapen the construction and to increase the efficiency of the machine, to provide for, the ready removal and adjustment of the ice in the cylinder, and to enable clifferent formsof cutters or knives to be easily and expeditiously removed for the purpose of sharpening them or of replacing them.

With these ends in View my invention consists in the novel combination of devices and peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

I have illustrated my improved machine in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a view in side elevation partly broken away and certain parts in section in order to illustrate the relation of the rotating follower and the stationary knives or cutters. Fig. 2 is an elevation looking at the inner side of the swinging cover or head for one end of the cylinder, showing the removable knife-plate and the knives thereon. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the knife-plate and its out.- ters removed from the swinging head of the cylinder. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the knife-plate shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of different forms of knives or cutters detached frointhe knife-plate.

Like letters'of reference denote corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings, referring to which- A designates the cylinder of the machine, which is preferably arranged in a slightlyinclined horizontal position, so that the water resulting from melting of the ice may'readily escape from one end of the cylinder.

A suitable base B is provided for supporting the machine and its cylinder, and this base has a vertical standard or column Z), upon which the horizontal or inclined cylinder is rigidly secured in any desired manner. This base is further provided with a driptrough I), having its edges surrounded by a vertical flange, and in this trough may be placed a tumbler, glass, or other suitable receptacle to catch the crushed or shaved ice and drippings of water from the cylinder.

The horizontal or inclined cylinder has one end thereof closed by means of a head a, which is preferably made open or skeleton- .shaped, and it has suitable cars by which it can be secured to the cylinder, and the other end of the cylinder is adapted to be closed by a swinging head G. (Shown in front view in Fig. 2.) This swinging head or disk 0 is the cylinder.

joined at its lower edge to the cylinder by means of the hinge or joint 0, (seen in Fig. 1,) and said disk-like cover or head 0 is provided with a vertical slot 0, extending transversely across and through the same. At the ends of the slot the edges of the head or cover are extended or projected beyond the circular outline or perimeter of said cover in the form of lugs c c, and in said lugs are provided the seats 0'', adapted to receive and contain the ends of the vertical knife-plate D. This knife-plate is fitted in the slot of the swinging head, so as to lie fiush with the faces of said head, and the ends of said plate fit snugly in the seats, the hinge-joint of the cover and the ends of the knife-plate being so disposed that the ends of the plate bearor abut against the edge of the cylinder when the swinging cover or head is turned to its closed position against the open end of the cylinder, thus holding the knife-plate securely in position with the cover against the end of The swinging head 0 is held in place by means of a pivoted latch (1, arranged at the free edge of the swinging head, and this latch is adapted to fit in a notch in the lug or teat d, projecting above the surface of the cylinder. This pivoted latch is further provided with a lip d, which is arranged to take over the upper end of the knife-plate and confine the said plate in position against accidental displacement. The lug or lip d is arranged relative to the knob or finger-piece of the latch,so that as the latch is turned to disengage the swinging head from the cylinder this lip 01" is moved across the end of the plate D to hold the same in place while the cover or head is lowered and the knife-plate is exposed to view; but when the cover or head is raised or closed against the end of the cylinder and the latch is turned to fasten said head in place the lip does not necessarily hold the knife-plate in place, as said plate then bears against the edge of the cylinder and is confined between said edge of the cylinder and the cover or head. This knife-plate is provided with a longitudinal slot e, which is substantially uniform in width except at the middle, where the slot is provided with rounded enlargements e, and the edges of the plate contiguous to the slot are inclined or beveled, as at e',to afford firm and secure bearings to the knivesF G. These knives may be of various forms, either with continuous paring or shaving edges, as shown in Fig. 5, to shave off the ice in thin particles or witha series of spaced bits, as shown by Figs. 6 and 7, which are designed specially to cut 01f the ice in small lumps and secure crushed ice for use in cool drinks.

The blade or knife F is arranged in one half of the slotin the knife-plate on one side of the central hole therein, and the other blade G is arranged inthe other half of the slot on the other side of the central enlarged hole. The two blades are inclined at an angle to the face of the knife-plate, and they are disposed on opposite sides of a line drawn through the center of the slote in said knifeplate, so that the working edges of the blades project beyond the same lateral face of the knife-plate, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. By this arrangement of the blades they are caused to properly pare or shave the ice as it is forced or moved through the cylinder toward the closed head or cover by the rotating follower which is pressed forward and rotated by the shaft.

In Fig. 2 I have shown blades of the form shown in detail in Fig 5 applied to the fixed head or cover 0 of the cylinder, and said blades have the smooth continuous edges f, while in Figs. 6 and 7 the blades or knives are provided with bits g, which are spaced or arranged at suitable intervals along the length of the blades. The blades having the bits g are so fixed or arranged on the head or cover 0 of the cylinder that the bits on one blade form a series of concentric grooves in the ice fed against the cutters, while the bits on the other blade are arranged out of line with the first-named bits and act on the ice at the points or ridges left between the grooves formed by the first named blade, whereby the ice is chipped off the mass or block of ice in the machine and discharged in the form of small lumpy crushed ice. I do not therefore limit myself strictly to the use of either form of the knives or blades shown and described herein as an embodiment of my invention, but hold myself at liberty to use either form of blades in the head or cover 0, and as the blades are carried or fixed on the knife-plate, which can be readily removed from the head or cover 0, it is evident that either form of blades can be quickly and easily adjusted in the machine, according as it is desired to have the machine produce shaved ice or crushed ice. The blades are each provided with transverse slots h h, through which are passed the screws i, that serve to secure the blades or cutters in fixed positions on the knife-plate.

In the practical use of an ice-shaving machine it occurs that the bearing and operating shaft becomes worn, owing to the friction on said parts and to the resistance of the ice to the cutters, and hence the shaft is liable to have a limited play or movement in the bearing, and it does ,not align with the center of the head or disk in which the cutters or knives are supported, and thus said cutters are liable not to remove the ice at the center of the machine. Ihave devised a novel form of cutter or knife to overcome this objection and which serves efficiently to remove the ice at the center of the block, whether the shaft is out of alignment or in alignment with the axis of the head or disk on which the cutters or knives are carried. One of the blades has IIO its inner end terminating at the circular enlargement or hole at the middle of the slot 6, (see Fig. 2,) but the other blade has its inner end beveled or inclined at F to a point, and

said beveled end F is extended to or beyond the center of the disk or head and is designed to remove theice at the center of the mass or block irrespective of the relative positions of the shaft and the cutter disk or head.

J is the follower, which is preferably made skeleton-shaped and provided on its front face with a series of spurs or teeth j, adapted to engage or clutch the ice to the follower. This follower is carried by a skaft K, which is rigidly fastened to the rear side of the follower in any suitable manner, but does not extend through the same, and this shaft is journaled in a bearing 70, rigid with the end a of the cylinder. The shaft is arranged to slide back and forth in the bearing in order to press or force the follower and the ice in advance of the same to the head 0 and the knives, and the shaft is provided at its outer end with a crank L by which rotary motion can be imparted to the shaft and the follower.

The swinging cover or head 0 is provided on its outside with the vertical wall C, made segmental in cross-section and forming a conduit which communicates with the slot in the cover and the knife-plate, and the ice shavings or parings are discharged through the slot in the knife-plate and thence into the conduit by which the shavings are conducted to the vessel on the drip-trough.

This being the construction of my machine, the operation is as follows: The shaft is drawn lengthwise to move the follower toward the head a of the cylinder, and the head 0 being lowered, the ice, in one or more blocks, is placed in the cylinder in advance of the follower, after which the head 0 is raised and locked against the end of the cylinder. The shaft is now turned and pressed inward so as to force the ice in front of the follower against the knives or cutters on the fixed head, and rotary motion is imparted to the ice by reason of the teeth penetrating the same, so that the ice is shaved or pared by the knives and forced through the slot in the knife-plate, thence into the conduit, and allowed to drop into the tumbler or other receptacle placed beneath the conduit to receive the shavings or parings.

It is evident that the head or cover 0 can be quickly opened or closed, and that the knife-plate can be easily lifted out of the cover and another knife-plate containing blades of the same or different form from the plate so removed can be as easily placed in said cover or head and secured against displacement between said cover or head 0 and the edge of the cylinder.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an ice-shaving machine, the longitudinally-slotted knife-plate provided with the central enlargements and the two blades carried by said knife-plate, one of said blades having its inner end extended into the central enlargement of the slot in the knife-plate, as and for the purpose described.

2. In an ice-shaving machine, the knifeplate having the longitudinal slot and the oppositely-inclined blades, one of which has the inner end beveled or inclined and extended to the center of the slot and toward the adjacent end of the other blade, as and for the purpose described.

3. In an ice-shaving machine, the combination of a horizontal cylinder having a hearing at one end, a shaft journaled in said bearing and carrying a follower, the vertical head or cover hinged to the open end of the cylinder and having the transverse slot and the external upright discharge-conduit, and the knives or blades supported on the slotted cover or head to permit the comminuted ice to pass through said cover and into the conduit, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In an ice-shavin g machine, substantially as described, the combination of a horizontal fixed cylinder having a bearing at one end, a shaft journaled therein and carrying a follower, a vertical slotted head or cover secured over the open end of said cylinder and having the external upright conduit, and a slotted knife-plate detachably connected to the fixed head or cover and having the knives or blades arranged to permit the material to pass through the slot in the knife-plate, as and for the purpose described.

5. In an ice-shaving machine, substantially as described, the combination of a horizontal fixed cylinder, a shaft having a follower, the hinged slotted cover fastened to one end of said cylinder, the transversely-slotted knifeplate arranged in the slot of the head or cover flush with the inner side thereof and detachably connected to said cover, and the knives or blades secured to said slotted knife-plate, as and for the purpose described.

6. In an ice-shaving machine, the combination of the horizontal cylinder, the shaft having a follower, the hinged vertical head or cover 0, having the transverse slot and the external upright conduit, a slotted knife-plate seated in the slot of the head or cover and ar ranged with one or both ends against the edge of the cylinder to be held in place by and between the cylinder and its hinged cover, and the blades or knives rigid with the slotted knife-plate, as and for the purpose described.

7. In an ice-shaving machine, the combination of a horizontal fixed cylinder, a shaft havslotted knife-plate and rigidly secured in place thereon, said blades being arranged to permit ice to pass through said knife-plate and cover into the conduit, as and for the purpose de- 5 scribed.

8. In an ice-shaving machine, the combination of a cylinder, a shaft carrying a follower,

a slotted cover or head secured to the cylinder, the slotted knife-plate fastened to the cover IO or head,and the stationary oppositely-inclined blades rigid with the knife-plate on opposite sides of the center of the slot therein and having the spaced bits of one blade arrangedout of the path described by the bits on the other blade, as and for the purpose described. '5

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. WEBB. Witnesses:

HENRY E. COOPER, H. T. BERNHARD. 

